


Sun and Moon

by Squickqueen



Category: Rise of the Planet of the Apes (Movies)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Gen, M/M, Maurice understands, Melancholy, Translation, lovesick koba, no beta we die like apes, solar folklore
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-02
Updated: 2020-08-02
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:41:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25668358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Squickqueen/pseuds/Squickqueen
Summary: Koba tells the legend of Sun and Moon to the ape kids.And like every other legend, this one contains a grain of truth too.
Relationships: Caesar/Koba (Planet of the Apes 2011)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 15





	Sun and Moon

**Author's Note:**

  * A translation of [Sonne und Mond](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25534768) by [Squickqueen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Squickqueen/pseuds/Squickqueen). 



A scarred hunter sat on his favorite rock all by himself, hunting spear in his lap and whetstone in hand. He looked up from his work, when a gaggle of kids rushed towards him, led by Blue Eyes, Caesar’s son.

 _“Koba!”_ Blue Eyes emphasized the sign with a friendly hoot and drew himself up to the full hight of a one-and-a-half-year-old chimp. Which, granted, wasn’t much.

Koba smiled. An expression, that looked more like a grimace due to his disfigured face. He put down spear and whetstone.

_“What does the prince want?”_

_“A story!”_

_“A story?"_

Koba took his time. Stroking his chin, he saw with satisfaction, how the young apes grew more restless by the second, barely able to contain their excitement. They bumped into and climbed over each other, scratched their sides, and hooted softly to themselves.

_“All right. Will tell you a story.”_

Like a bursting dam, the kids screeched with glee and climbed up the rock to where Koba sat. They snuggled up to him or began to groom his fur. Blue Eyes jumped into Koba’s lap and looked at him eagerly with those big blue eyes of him.

The little ones loved Koba's stories. Stories of the hunt, of the time when apes had been slaves of humans, of the dawn of the world and of Caesar, their king. Koba had a talent for passing these stories on to the next generation. His stories were full of suspense and drama, which was often missing from those of a teacher like Maurice or a ruler like Caesar. What did it matter if Koba sometimes bent the truth a little bit as long as the story was good?

Koba waited until the excited murmurs had died down.

_“Tell you a story of Sun and Moon._

_The world was still young when Sun and Moon, like us, lived in a small forest village. Sun was radiant and beautiful, her fur as golden as honey, with blue eyes that rivaled the color of the sky. She was a queen among her people, and when she climbed the highest trees, everyone looked up, be it ape, plant, or animal. Everyone loved the Sun: her mates, her many offspring, even her greatest enemy, the Darkness, spoke of her with respect and awe._

_But no one loved Sun more than Moon._

_Moon was everything that Sun was not. Ugly, with dull and colorless fur and a single, milky eye. Because Moon was ashamed of his ugliness, he hid away under a dark coat, with seams made of spider silk. During the day, when Sun roamed the village and forests, bringing happiness to everyone with her beauty and warmth, Moon remained in his nest. Only when Sun slept and Darkness crept up on the sleeping world, did Moon dare to go outside._

_Moon wasn’t afraid of Darkness. When he took off his dark cloak and its seams shone like silver in the pale light of his single eye, Darkness didn’t dare to approach._

_Every night Moon sat alone on his rock in the middle of the village, thinking only of his beloved Sun._

_In his heartache, Moon forgot to eat. Night after night he became thinner and thinner. Fox and Owl were worried and urged him to go hunting._

»Moon,« _they said._ »Without the pale light of your single eye, Darkness will devour us. We need you!«

_So Moon finally went hunting, for he liked Fox and Owl. Moon hunted all night long and when he had eaten, he returned to the village._

_Where Sun had just risen from her nest._

_For the first time, Sun and Moon saw each other face to face._

_And Moon went pale with fright._

_Ashamed of his ugliness, Moon hurried to hide his face and fled from Sun and her radiant beauty up to the sky._

_He’s still up there today, hiding under his dark cloak with silvery seams, watching from afar over his beloved Sun when she’s asleep.”_

* * *

Maurice climbed up the rock at a leisurely pace, where Koba still sat, watching the night sky, lost in his thoughts. His audience was long gone, probably fast asleep in their nests by now. The ape village was quiet.

Koba greeted the orangutan with a nod and moved over so Maurice could sit down next to him.

 _“Saw you told children a story earlier. It was a good story.”_ Maurice put a twig into his mouth. He looked up at the sky and the crescent moon.

_“Is Moon lovesick tonight?”_

_“Maybe.”_

For a while, bonobo and orangutan gazed silently at the crescent moon, while the darkness slowly crept in.

_“It’s a good night for stories. Do you want to hear the rest of the story about Sun and Moon?”_

Koba snorted.

_“There’s no more story.”_

_“Hm, but I think there is. You told me about Moon, but what about Sun?_

_See, that morning when Sun first saw Moon, in her eyes the pale light of his single eye shone like silver. Beautiful and mysterious! Sun fell in love with Moon at that very moment and followed him up to the sky. Even though he fled from her, she did not give up, for she was as stubborn as she was beautiful. She wanted to take one last look at the silvery light of his eye that had enchanted her.”_

Koba sat very still and watched Maurice sign out of the corner of his eye. The spot between his shoulder blades prickled. The fur on his arms stood on end.

Maurice continued.

_“And sometimes, when Moon, for a moment, forgets his ugliness and allows himself to be loved by the radiant Sun, they make love and no one talks of beauty or ugliness. Eclipse is what the humans called it, I think.”_

The orangutan got up.

_“Well, it's getting late, Koba. It’s time for this old orangutan to have a good night’s rest. Sleep well!”_

He patted the bonobo on the back before climbing down.

Koba stayed behind, staring dead ahead, into the night, his jaws grinding. A deep sigh festered in his chest, crawled up his throat but never left his lips.

As the darkness of the night swallowed him, Koba buried his face in his hands.

~The End~

**Author's Note:**

> Short and sweet, but the story was in a hurry to see the light of day :'D  
> I hope you still enjoyed it a little!


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